Growth drives VN’s human development progress

Economic growth has been defined as the major momentum of Vietnam’s
human development progress, according to the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam.

A report released on Nov. 9
by the UNDP said Vietnam’s Human Development Index (HDI) rose 11.8
percent between 1999 and 2008.

Income growth has contributed
55.7 percent to the HDI growth, while improved life expectancy and
education have contributed 31.8 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively.

Addressing
the ceremony, UNDP Country Director Setsuko Yamazaki said the report
ranked Vietnam 128 out of 187 countries surveyed.

Together
with economic situation and national origins, geographical and regional
differences are the most important factors causing inequality in
Vietnam, hindering the country from gaining a higher human development
level, she said.

The official said the report provides
additional input for policymakers to make smart investment decisions for
the social sector, at both national and local levels, in order to
achieve the full potential of human development in Vietnam .

The 2011 report - Social Services for Human Development - looks at
human development progress across all of Vietnam ’s regions and finds
considerable variation in levels of human development.

According to the report, major cities such as Hanoi , Ho Chi Minh City
and Da Nang have levels of human development comparable to China ,
Jordan and Belize , while poor provinces like Lai Chau and Ha Giang
have human development levels similar to Papua New Guinea and
Swaziland .

The report also introduces a new
Multidimensional Poverty Index for Vietnam, the first national
non-monetary poverty index developed specifically for Vietnam.

According
to this measurement, more people in Vietnam suffer from
multidimensional poverty than income poverty. In 2008, the rate of
income poverty was 14.5 percent while it was 23.3 percent for
multidimensional poverty.

The report finds that the bulk of
health and education expenditure comes from private household spending.
This spending is at much higher levels than the 30 percent considered
optimal for social equity and continued human development.

In
health care, 56 percent of overall expenditure come from household
spending. This has a catastrophic impact on poor and vulnerable
households, with 8.1 percent of households in 2008 spending more than 20
percent of their total household expenditure on health care services
and 3.7 percent being impoverished as a direct result of their high
health care spending.

The authors of the report argue that a
more equitable distribution of the cost burden for social services is
required. In that respect they recommend the Government reviews the
current socialisation policy and its impact on healthcare and education
spending./.